Arne Duncan may withdraw the waiver he extended to Washington State because it failed to adopt a test-based teacher evaluation system, as he demanded.
The first question is, what this will mean for Washington State, should Duncan withdraw the waiver? If the state reverts to the requirements of NCLB, then very likely every school and every district will be a “failing” school or district and therefore subject to draconian punishments, such as state takeover, takeover by a private management company, takeover by charter operators, or closure. In short, the entire state public school system would be privatized, subject to state control, or closed. The utter absurdity of NCLB would be on public display for all to see. That might be a valuable lesson for the nation, helping to hasten an end to a failed law.
Another interesting question that the Washington State issue raises is where Arne Duncan got the authority to set the terms of waivers from the law. Did Congress say he could do it? I don’t think so. Is it legal for him to create conditions that mirror Race to the Top requirements but without RTTT funding? Congress might want to know the answer to that question, especially Senator Patty Murray of Washington, who will not be happy to see her entire state branded a failure. Senator Murray is chair of the Senate Budget Committee and a member of the Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions committee.
Third, why should he revoke his legally dubious waiver because a state fails to enact a program that has consistently failed wherever it was tried? Evaluating teachers by test scores has not worked anywhere, has received negative reviews from most education researchers, yet Duncan clings to it with religious faith.
Why should Washington State be punished for demonstrating good judgment, wisdom, and critical thinking?
Diane Ravitch's blog 
Federal funding accounts for roughly 10% of state education budgets. If Washington State can find a way to absorb that loss, other states could and should follow as a sign of solidarity. I can’t think of a better place to start than Bill Gates’ home state.
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Could a state save 10% of their education budget by not purchasing the standardized tests, not purchasing any new curriculum aligned to the test, and scrapping all costs associated with a student information management system?
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I’m sure they would save money by not participating.
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Most of our district people are worried about Title and Sped monies. K-12 is underfunded here as it is – as in most states – yet even winning a lawsuit against the state hasn’t really increased the funding. They just robbed Peter (teachers) to pay Paul (put that money into K-12 fund so it looks like they increased the funding).
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Yes, right in Gates’ back yard!
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Perfect!
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I’ve always been told that schools that did not get any federal funds were not subject to NCLB; and I’ve always believed that the sole and only purpose of NCLB was to stop ed funds from the federal gov’t. to the states and local districts. Period. It was a back door route to killing the Dept. of Ed., similar to what’s being done to Social Security by cutting their budgets, and thereby cutting their services. What say you?
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Wow! Critical thinking at its best! Never considered it that way!
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I don’t see how that could be – that would mean the states would be willing to turn down tons of funds (for free!) by passing policy. If Congress didn’t want the DOE to have the authority it does, they would take it away. The way you frame it, makes it so that via budget authority it would try to inspire states to kill the effectiveness of the DOE – but then the DOE would still have a budget and still exist.
I wear a tin foil hat sometimes but this goes a little too far.
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All the states should tell the Feds to take their money and shove it.
Perhaps it is necessary for an entire state to “fail” for the non believers to start realizing that we, the so called dissenters, are telling the truth. It might take a Pearl Harbor event to rally the reserves.
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Yes, what are they going to do-send in the military and force their way? I can’t believe states have gone along with it all
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I agree. A few years ago, the Utah State Legislature threatened to pull out of NCLB, which costs the state more money than we get from the Feds for education. USDOE sent out a whole squadron of people to talk to the legislators and the bill was quietly dropped. The public never heard exactly what was said to force Utah back into line. GW Bush was president at the time, and I think the USDOE was afraid what would happen if the reddest of red states turned against Bush’s signature policy.
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This is kind of fascinating. I can’t help but thinking they’ll find a way to make Washington suffer for this. Would love to see DOE face an uproar.
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I wish every state would tell the Department of Education to shove off. End this madness. Sad that taxpayers pay their hard earned money to the federal government and then have to jump through flaming hoops to get some of it back.
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Yes, a few people are deciding how it will be used. Disgusting
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Exactly…this is actually OUR money! We should definitely have more of a say as to how it is spent on OUR children, in OUR country. This is the not just a country for the rich and the sooner we all stand up for our rights as tax payers the better!
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This post brought to mind an article from yesterday’s NYTimes that I felt compelled to comment on in in the newspaper and in my blog:
http://parenting.blogs.nytimes.com/2014/04/10/why-students-are-tested-and-why-some-parents-opt-out/?_php=true&_type=blogs&_r=0
This article in the generally recognized “newspaper of record” purports to “…explain the nuts and bolts of standardized testing and opt-outs.” The issue I take with this is that it seems to convey the notion that states had a chance to weigh in on the question about whether or not tests would be used to evaluate teachers and whether or not the common core would be adopted and that parents and teachers still have some opportunity to sway the direction we are headed… This action by Duncan should disabuse Ms. Lahey and the NYTimes of any notion that the common core and VAM are an option or can be influenced by folks at the state or national level…
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So if we are sold a bill of goods which is not what it purports to be, then we can’t return it and demand our money back?
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I do not understand – someone clarify why there are not 45 lawsuits in court going to Supreme Court – There are 3 legal issues which allows only the states to control the rules established for education – 1. 10th amendment, 2. GEPA , 3. Dept of Ed Organization Act and lastly ESEA of 1965 – which all basically indicate that no provision of a program by Secretary or any other officer can be construed to exercise any direction, supervision, or control over curriculum, instruction, administration, curriculum; and the states were not to incur or spend any funds under ESEA. So why is the state of Washington worried about a waiver to a known failure and why worry what Duncan thinks he can do that those 3 laws say he can’t? A lawsuit should be challenging Duncan, his waiver and the RTTT program. Cn someone tell me why at this date there isn’t a ton of lawsuits and why Congress seemingly is ineffective.
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You don’t sue the hand that feeds you.
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For those of us who are AI* please explain “GEPA”.
Thanks!
*Acronym Impaired
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GEPA – General Education Provisions Act
” No provision of any applicable program shall be construed to authorize any dept, agency, officer, or employee of the US to exercise direction, supervision, or control over curriculum, program of instruction, administration, or personnel of any ed institution …. etc
Sorry Duane for late reply – funeral issues to contend with – Jack
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My condolences.
Thanks for the info, Jack!
Got a call from our principal this morning, one of our students was killed in a car accident last night. I wonder how taking care of that tomorrow will fit into any VAM or standardized test ranking.
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Children killed in car accidents are gut retching to parents/family, teachers, and the community. We had a local middle school student killed last year while crossing the street by the school playground. So sad. Even more devastating is death in fires or by random or purposeful gun shot wounds. It’s a sign of our times that GSW is a part of our vocabulary.
My condolences on your school’s loss.
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This question was asked and answered in 2011 by the Congressional Research Service.
Click to access june_28_2011_crs_report.pdf
Basically, the Head of the DOE has very broad waiver authority and so long as it complies with the waiver authority granted his office which based on similar cases they concluded would likely not be circumscribed in court.
There is a little leeway in that they say it has not been tested in any court case and that in some cases the waiver authority would be struck down.
However, the bald faced truth is that Congress has failed to act to renew ESEA, the only framework we have is NCLB whose time limits to doom the system have passed, and the only legal workaround are these waivers which consequently, though not by congressional authority, give Duncan supreme power over school systems since the fallback position is a club over the head from NCLB.
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Then again…if every school overnight was found to be a legal failure and they tried to privatize the system overnight….that would get so much backlash it might be better than trying to fight these fires on tons of little fronts and slowly getting overwhelmed by nimble politicians finding loopholes and creating small gaps through which to push the neoliberal agenda. Just piss off every parent in the United States at the same time and something would change and then Duncan could offer all the waivers he wants…the schools would have a real alternative in law to turn to.
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From Seattle – so as a long-time education activist, here’s my two cents.
I think the fact that it is taking so long for Duncan to decide means he knows it’s a gamble.
I was actually speaking with the head of our state edu department, Randy Dorn, recently. He said he was worried about having to send all those letters to all those schools about being “failing” and that our recent state supreme court decision that directs our Legislature to fully fund education could be in danger because of it.
No, it won’t.
Look, people – even the general public – when they hear that 95% of Washington state schools are failing are NOT going to believe it. They will ask parents who will say no. They will ask their School Boards who will say no. It’s just not believable and I believe, particularly in Seattle, most will shrug and believe it’s politics.
As well, NCLB is such old news, I’m not sure who takes it seriously.
My personal belief is that Washington may walk away with swat rather than a smackdown (meaning Duncan finds some lesser way to punish Washington State).
But as for a takeover of our districts? Not in this state. We just aren’t that kind of ed reform state and anyone who pushed that idea would be roundly put down. If it comes to that, believe me, there will be huge pushback.
I believe our legislators made the right decision and now we await our fate.
But we’re not going to be cowed or scared straight by Duncan.
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Thanks for the inside scoop.
My first question is: Could Duncan be that stupid?
My next immediate thought is: Duh!
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westello1: you have put your finger on the initial strength, and long-range weakness, of the drivel put out by the charterites/privatizers.
Short-term they have enjoyed great success in pushing charters and privatization and [few]rewards/[many]punishments via high-stakes standardized tests scores and teacher bashing and merit pay and the like, when it involved people taking sides against someone else.
What do I mean? Remember NIMBY? Not In My BackYard? When playing on such biases as those involving income or race/ethnicity or location, some people will [unfortunately] assume the worst of others.
But when the big guns of the propaganda machine are turned against the initial supporters of charters and vouchers and privatization themselves, blowback.
I am not saying this is true of everyone, and it gets rather complicated—look at the mental/moral contortions of Karin Klein re supporting CCSS and its associated high-stakes standardized testing while simultaneously opting out her own kid!—but when you bring the hammer down on more and more people, squeezing all the $tudent $ucce$$ out of them that you can, people start waking up.
Messy, uneven, contradictory.
Yet another small sign that the charterite/privatization juggernaut is looking a lot more vulnerable of late.
Just my dos centavitos worth…
😎
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We’ve knocked out a few bricks in the wall, KrazyTA, but the wall still stands.
We’ve still got a lot more hammering to do.
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“We’ve knocked out a few bricks in the wall, KrazyTA, but the wall still stands.”
Why knock down the wall when the foundation is so weak and vulnerable. The foundation being educational standards and standardized testing. Noel Wilson has provided the dynamite we just need to use it. See: “Educational Standards and the Problem of Error” found at: http://epaa.asu.edu/ojs/article/view/577/700
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You know Duane, the way the government is manipulating test scores to label so many children as failing, Wilson is starting to look more plausible. If the system is rigged, the grades have no meaning (except to denigrate), and therefore become irrelevant.
If this keeps up Duane, you will have a Wilson convert in Buffalo.
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Ellen, all test scores are arbitrary. A test can be designed that everyone passes, everyone fails, or for any point in between.
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And Diane, that’s what makes this system so tragic. The government calls for a 100% passing rate, than manipulates the results so barely anyone is successful. In NYS, during NCLB, the Buffalo Public Schools and others were actually seeing results. These positive achievements must not have been a part of the master plan, because the cut scores were changed, after the fact.
It’s like a game where every time you have a chance of winning, the rules are altered to your detriment. Or that dangling carrot always just out of reach.
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Don’t put faith in Patty Murray. Patty Murray helped force Boeing workers to take a SECOND vote, on a contract that wasn’t due to expiere for two years. Boeing closes during the holidays and the second voted was forced when thousands of Boeing Machinists were on vacation. End result: Boeing workers lost defined pension plans when Boeing has $440B worth of planes to build.
I’m not confident Murray would stand with teachers.
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Like the old sayin’, Whiskey’s for drinking, water’s for fighting over. For Washington versus Washington, Marijuana’s for smokin’, standardized test based teacher evaluation’s for fighting over.
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“Marijuana’s for smokin”
Maybe that is why states are legalizing pot–to keep the population stoned and not giving a shit about those who take far more than their fair share of the world’s resources. “Hey pass that joint and let’s put a buzz on.”
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Why would the federal government punish a state for going against federal education policy and not federal drug policy? That is the ethical question that Obama must answer.
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As they position themselves to privatize Detroit’s Water Dept., I’m with ya! Love it! Whiskys for drinking, water’s for fighting over.
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“Why should Washington State be punished for demonstrating good judgment, wisdom, and critical thinking?”
This question is exactly why Duncan has to go after Washington. The use of good judgement to stand up to the ridiculous policies he has put in place can not be allowed to stand. Others will think they can do the same.
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This could be the first card of this house of cards falling down. Duncan et. al will not come off well regardless of what they do. They can try and bully an entire state, showing their true thoughts, or back off and leave open the possibility that other states will also not give in to the federal whims. Now things get interesting….Go Washington, you offer us hope.
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Unfortunately our Governor and the State Supe already sold teachers out, so they will do what they can to force us to comply. California has a much better chance of being the state to ultimately give Duncan the finger without it being for red state/anti-Obama reasons. They already did so to some extent when Jerry Brown said no to making the tests count this year.
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Well don’t expect any dissension from the NYS government. They’re leading the charge. I think they are more pro CCSS than Duncan.
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The fix is very far in in New York.
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There’s an old rule by which school (and DOE) officials always follow.
Vocal, outspoken, angry parents always get there way, especially when they’re in the right. If King dare to look into his crystal ball, he will see swarms of enraged parents flying his way. He and the Board of Regents are all that’s do defend their personal Alamo.
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There’s an old rule that school (and DOE) officials always follow.
Vocal, outspoken, angry parents will get their way, especially when they’re in the right. If King dares to look into his crystal ball, he will see swarms of enraged parents flying his way. He and the Board of Regents are the only ones left to defend their personal Alamo. Once Cuomo gets a good strong whiff of this political wind, the grand and glorious governor will walk back all his support. He already has an ad out with the false claim of putting a stop to the Common Core; seriously.
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I’m relatively sure we in WA State are about to be used as a cautionary tale. And you know what they say, if you can’t be a good example…
As for Randy Dorn worrying about sending “the letters” out, who cares. Besides wasting trees, the letters will mean nothing.
Better yet, a week before “the letters” come out, districts should send a pre-letter letter that goes something like, “In about a week, you’ll receive a letter that tells you our schools are failing…” An explanation for the origins of the letter and a list of district/school accomplishments should be included. I say we use this unfortunate situation as a way to inform and mobilize parents. This may be the DOE’s game, but we are certainly free to mess with the rules.
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Exactly. If districts and the state put out a letter saying the Feds are labeling WA State schools as failing because we failed to comply with a misguided (and illegal) demand by the USDOE, no one here would care. In fact E. Washington residents would probably cheer.
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When common sense is insubordination.
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This comes at the right time when Duncan is already backpedaling his language about the use of testing. I hope the WA governor has told Duncan that it’s his problem to figure out, and hopefully the state superintendent has a spine to stick to his better judgment. I’m anxious to see if Gates will make a move to save face. Hope he heads to the closest border.
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Backpedaling is Arnie’s sole skill. Perhaps it’s the Quaker philosophy that makes him believe he is the chosen one to save kids. Someone should investigate his background with his mothers Learning Center where he cut his teeth and learned to dribble a basketball that led to his career playing Basketball in South Africa before his training at AT&T
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Very well said, Diane!
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I just started this at Petition2Congress. It is very easy to sign, copies are automatically sent to President Obama, and your own senators and your representatives. Please take the time to read and the petition entitled: STOP COMMON CORE TESTING. Thank you.
http://www.petition2congress.com/15080/stop-common-core-testing/?m=5265435
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I agree that we citizens of Washington State—and I’m proud to know I’m among them—have an opportunity to be proactive on this.
Let’s call Arne’s bluff. Think about it. He has no leverage here except for some amorphous “intimidating” presence. And it’s mainly symbolic.
Duncan can’t win on this. He can only try to scare us into “surrendering”. And that’s apparently the strategy he’s counting on.
I agree with the posters above who say we need to have supportive districts in our state—or supportive parents on the PTA or PTO or independent parents or citizens—send out OUR OWN letters prior to every public school in our state, providing the teachers and principals of every school with a clear and cogent understanding of this issue.
It would greatly defuse any undue concern or paranoia on the part of our educators, students and parents.
And it would box Arne Duncan in: As this chess match rapidly progresses into the endgame, “King Arne” will realize he has no where to move.
If he tries to “punish” our state through some sort of public scolding and/or a demand for what, a “refund”, what will he do, hire a collection agency? (However, Arne DOES love outsourcing!)
Make Our Day, Arne. Please.
If Duncan is obtuse enough to make Washington some sort of “public example” he’s
Also, perhaps most important: The Privatizers like to operate in stealth mode.They don’t want a BIG, OPEN NATIONAL DEBATE on all of this. Duncan’s biggest frustration is that a few of us have already learned far too much; and look at the “trouble” we’ve already started.
Duncan can’t risk having this noisy, intense public debate on this with the rest of the nation watching, listening and learning. He may have the “B-52s” and “Agent Orange” and a half million troops—paid for by a combination of OUR OWN federal tax dollars AND Gates, Broad, Walton and others. And they’ve been using a “Gulf Of Tonkin” narrative for over 20 years now and it’s as mendacious as the first one, now almost a half century old.
However, all of that financial and material advantage won’t enable him to fight off the very savvy and experienced “guerrilla warriors” out here. If he attempts to bring in his BIG GUNS, we’ll be waiting in the trees, the streams, the bushes, and the caves. There are few “Hearts and Minds” he can hoodwink out here—except for The Privatizers he’s already bribed and bought off. He’ll get stuck The Big Muddy very quickly.
So Arne Duncan…this is it; the End Game in this chess match, Arne. You have very few pieces left on the board and almost no place to move, “Your Highness”.
If you want to take the risk of being checkmated while “The Whole World Is Watching”…be our guest. It’ll be the Tet Offensive of so-called “Education Reform” and a public humiliation so extreme that it will probably kill your chances of getting that “REAL Dream Private Sector Job” you’ve been salivating over with inBloom or Pearson or the Gates Foundation or Walmart while dutifully doing their explicit bidding, since Day One on the job as Obama’s Education Secretary.
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He’s nothing but a bloviating, bluffing, bully. Bring it on Arne.
WA – may you be the first of many dominos.
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“He’ll get stuck The Big Muddy very quickly.”
Yes, we are “Waist Deep in the Big Muddy”* when it comes to all the educational malpractices forced upon us since NCLB but especially RaTTT. Hopefully the same thing happens to Duncan et al. that happens to the captain.
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Sebelius is OUT.
Duncan is NEXT on the chopping block.
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